Marciano on Alis refusal to go to war. Full Letter.

Gotta love the Rock.

 

Thanks for posting. :thumbsup

 

thanks, that was a real insight. seems fellow fighters didn't think much of ali's intelligence at all...

 

Joe Louis and Rocky...funny but the poor born Joe Louis saw more prejudice than the middle-class raised Ali and Marciano as a son of Italian Immigrants did as well but they still loved the good people of this country and loved the fact that they were Americans....

I think Ali fell for the Black Muslim propaganda and was used and abused. I can not speak for Muslims but I knew a lot of the Black Muslims (Ali people) and they were gangsters, nothing more...Ali learned later on when he had to cough up money and do as they said for their own agenda but Ali turned out to be a good man and everyone makes mistakes, so those were his....I think Marciano knew this because he became very good friends with Ali and Ali respected him. Joe Louis was old school he was proud to be black and American but knew he would be an image of Blacks in general so he rose to the occasion as a great American. I do not think Louis hated Ali but saw the direction he was going and did not like black groups that were violent and put black people in a bad light

 

You see Ali's refusal to go to war as a mistake, Bummy?

 

thanks a cracking post

 

yeah ali was definitely taken advantage of, although i wouldn't say he fell for it, as much as i'd say he was outright coerced. at least he got away from all of that in the end.

 

People may say ALi was used, well all wealthy people have hangers on trying to make money out of them. Ali felt in the right in abstaining from an unjust war and not fighting for a country where he was legally seen as a second class citizen at best

I'm not sure if this letter is genuine, why would Marciano be writting a letter that is effectively gossip?

 

no internet forums back then.

 

Indeed I'm wondering if it was published in a magazine at the time and its Rocky's response when they asked 'his thoughts'

 

back in those days sending letters to talk about pretty much anything was standard practice. kind of like emails now.

 

I think it's funny when people say Ali was "duped" or "misled" or "used" or "brainwashed" ...... remind's me of something a mother would about her son.

Ali was the heavyweight champion of the world, a grown man, and a man of legendary mental and physical fortitude.
Seems a bit pathetic that some of his fans reckon he was made to say stuff he didn't truly want to say or truly didn't believe in.

I think Ali genuinely believed a black man should never fight for Uncle Sam's army. It's not an unreasonable view to hold, in my opinion. And even if it were unreasonable, it was his opinion. There's no reason to believe he was had any doubts over this and was being guided or duped.

Rocky and Joe Louis could just as easily be accused of being "brainwashed" for there views on the matter.

 

as with most historical events, there is little black and white, and a lot of grey. ali believed some of it, most of it even, but the way he expressed his views on these matters was at least partly influenced by the extremist group he was associated with at the time. a group that he joined without a full understanding of the way they worked, or the principles that they endorsed. a group that initially approached him, and not the other way round.

ali has said as much himself. and i see this as separate from the war issue.

 

This.